Included in Varley’s “Picnic on the Nearside is a romantic picnic on the Moon.
Fox Carnival Joule and Halo are pals. But their relationship is altered when Halo changes into a woman with full breasts, curves, “the works,” etc. To avoid the sexual confrontation, Fox suggests they visit Old Archimedes on the Nearside, a restricted zone on the Moon. They pack a lunch and request a flight plan.
The picnic lunch is held in the tent, in the style of a typical domestic nineteenth-century couple on a checkered tablecloth set with dishes, napkins, washbowls, and a tiny electric candelabra. Fox says that in Halo’s mind, they were playing Blondie and Dagwood Bumstead. When the picnic is done, begin foreplay, and then the “most unsatisfactory sex act.”
Featured Image: Cover illustration by Barclay Shaw (1984)
See John Varley. “Picnic on the Nearside.” In The Barbie Murders. New York: Berkley, 1980.
*The story presumes aliens have destroyed Earth, and human survivors now live on the Farside of the Moon because they cannot look out at their lost planet.